


Matchmaking Goldfish

by Dokuhan



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Pre-Slash, Veterinary Clinic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 04:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12904299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dokuhan/pseuds/Dokuhan
Summary: For the #SASO2017 prompt: Abe is a vet who works the night shift, and Mihashi is the teenager who comes in just past 2 AM with a goldfish in a plastic bag.





	Matchmaking Goldfish

In retrospect, it had been Takaya’s own damn fault. He had been the one to suggest that the clinic take on some late night hours for emergency patients during the week. Haruna had been totally against the idea, insisting that if people really had an emergency they could just call one of them directly. But then Takaya had made the argument that new patients wouldn’t have their contact information and after a solid few weeks, he won out.  
  
Well sort of. Haruna insisted he take responsibility for the late night hours and six months into it Takaya was full of regrets.  
  
Most of the time it was pretty quiet, aside from a scattered few panicked dog and cat owners that would come running in in the middle of the night. He spent most of his time alone in the back office. It was a better chance to catch up on paperwork than saving lives and Takaya sometimes wondered if it was really worth it.   
  
And that’s exactly what we was dwelling on one lonely night in the middle of June. It was hot and muggy, incredibly uncomfortable weather for scrubs and a lab coat. The AC had broken in the middle of the day, and he’d had to use the few fans in the office to keep their overnight patients cool. He was  _tired_. Tired, sweaty, gross, and just overall irritated.   
  
But the worst part of it? He as  _lonely_. Extra hours cut deeply into the little free time he had and considering how hard it had already been to see his friends, the chances were even farther and few between.   
  
Takaya looked at the clock on his desk, dreading the fact he still had fifteen more minutes. Maybe if he managed to close up in time and get out of there, maybe he could grab dinner before the last train. He’d heard good things about the oden stand near the station, but there was the more social aspect of going to the izakaya on the next block. He groaned and leaned his head down on the desk. He just wanted to go home and stand in front of the AC.   
  
His moping was interrupted by the tinkle of the bell they kept over the front door, and that only filled him with more dread. A patient meant not closing in time, it also meant possibly missing the last train. But still, duty called.   
  
“I’ll be right with you,” he called out, throwing his lab coat back on. He rotated his shoulder and stepped out of the office…  
  
Only to feel his knees go a little weak.   
  
The guy standing there...wasn’t normally his type. All big eyed and kind of tense, in a jittery way - but he had something magnetic about him. He looked completely unready to be seen in public, with a ratty t-shirt and sandals. Takaya assumed he was probably out walking his dog and an issue had come up.  
  
But then he looked around, and there was no dog. Instead he was holding some kind of plastic bag in his right hand.   
  
The fuck?   
  
“Can I help you?” he asked, probably a little sharper than he needed to, but dammit he just wanted to end his day aready.   
  
The guy flinched, and Takaya felt a little bad, he tried stuttering something out. If this had kept going, one might have assumed something was  _up_  with him, either way too much to drink or some illegal substance. But then he swallowed and held out the bag, “I-I found this!”   
  
Now that it was in full view, Takaya could see the bag was filled with water and a small orange fish that looked worse for wear. It only dawned on him then that there was supposed to be a festival that night. Still, he couldn’t really do much for a prize goldfish, “Okay…?”   
  
“I-it...um, it was just sitting there. Someone left it,” his eyes drifted away, “I don’t have anything to put it in.”   
  
“Just hold onto it until you can go to the pet store then.”   
  
“It’ll die!”   
  
And okay, that did strike a chord in Takaya. Most people didn’t understand proper goldfish care and so their fish didn’t last more than a few days, but this fish definitely wouldn’t last the night if it was stuck in a plastic bag - surrounded in it’s own stool and with no proper regulation.   
  
So he sighed and relented, “Okay...follow me.” He grabbed a blank chart from the desk and a pen, scribbling down information as they walked towards the back, “Name?”   
  
“Um, it...it doesn’t have one?”  
  
  
“I mean  _your_  name.”   
  
The guy squeaked, but answered. “Mihashi. Mihashi Ren.”   
  
“Alright, Mihashi-san, we’ll see what we can do.” He placed the chart on the examination table, and turned to dig through one of the cabinets, “I think we have a temporary tank somewhere…”   
  
“What about you?”   
  
“Excuse me?”   
  
“Do you have a name,  _sensei_?”   
  
A really simple question like that shouldn’t have tugged so hard at his heart, but still he swallowed thickly, “Abe Takaya.”   
  
“Abe-sensei...thank you.”   
  
He managed to find a tank, it was little too small, but it had a filter attached so it would do for the time being. He filled it up with water and placed it on the table, “Hand me the bag, Mihashi-san.”   
  
Mihashi handed Takaya the bag, and looked a little confused when it floated at the top of the tank, “Aren’t you going to let it out?”   
  
“It needs to adjust to the temperature of the water, then I can let it swim out.”   
  
“O-oh…” Mihashi watched the fish carefully, “I’m sorry it’s so late.”   
  
“Well, we have late hours for a reason. You can bring the tank back in the morning after you get a better one.” He untied the bag, opening it up so the fish could swim out on it’s own, “Can you carry it by yourself?”   
  
“It seems a little…”   
  
Takaya sighed and looked at the clock, there was no way he’d make the last train at this rate, “Okay. I’ll help you out.”   
  
“Do you...live nearby?”   
  
“No, but I’ll just come back here and sleep it’s fine.”   
  
Mihashi frowned, “I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have rushed in, I just didn’t know what else to do,” he pulled the bag out when the goldfish finally swam out, “I just...I didn’t want it to die and I couldn’t believe someone would just leave it behind. I didn-”   
  
“Mihashi. It’s fine,” Takaya interrupted as he clicked the top onto the tank, “it’s part of the job.”   
  
Still, Mihashi didn’t look too convinced. He kept his eyes downward, focused on the fish that seemed just a little bit better now that it had the space to move, “Okay…”   
  
Maybe if they’d met under different circumstances, the tension wouldn’t have been so thick. Maybe if it had been in the dead of winter, or earlier in the day, or at a different point in their lives. At that moment, though, Takaya felt at a loss of what to do next. He wasn’t scheduled to work the next morning, so he wouldn’t be there when Mihashi returned the tank and something in him didn’t want to end things just by carrying the fish back to his apartment.   
  
“Did…” Mihashi’s voice cut in, “did you eat yet? There’s an oden stand near my building, I could…thank you.”   
  
Takaya looked at the fish and then back at Mihashi, and wondered if his face was just as red, “Uh, yeah, that would be nice.” 


End file.
